In slab-on-grade, suspended slab concrete structures and slab-on-metal deck construction it is often a standard practice to install electrical conduit raceways within the body of the concrete slab. In order to be able to continue the conduit raceway vertically after concrete placement, the conduit is left extending above the top of slab approximately, for example, six to twelve inches above the top of the slab, to allow the in-slab conduit to be coupled to the future extension of the raceway. This section of conduit extending above the final slab elevation is commonly referred to as a “conduit stub-up”. The conduit stub-up may enable the use of conventional conduit couplings, such as a set-screw fitting, which may sleeve over the two pieces of conduit being joined together.
Because the conventional conduit stub-up extend above the top surface of the concrete slabs, some form of protection may often be provided around conduit stub-ups to reduce the likelihood of damage to the conduit as well as injury to unaware and/or unsuspecting workers or lay people. For example, damage to the conduit may make it difficult and expensive, perhaps prohibitively so, to couple the in-slab conduit to an additional section of conduit above the slab. In addition to possible damage to the conduit itself, the conduit stub-ups extending above the concrete slab may pose a tripping, impalement, or other safety hazard. For these reasons, various approaches may be utilized to identify and/or protect the protruding conduit stub-up (and/or to protect individual from safety hazards associated with the conduit stub-up). Examples of attempted safety measures may include spraying the conduit stub-ups and supporting structure with safety orange paint, attaching flags to the conduit stub-ups, covering the conduit stub-ups with miscellaneous objects such as CMU blocks and painting the objects a safety orange, and, in situations where groupings of conduit stub-ups occur in-line with each other, wood blocking may be strapped to stub-ups in order to protect them from damage and sprayed with orange safety paint to make them more visible.
This application is directed to improvements in providing in-slab conduit connections.